Friday, November 21, 2008

When I was in California for the Internet Librarian conference in October, I was fortunate to also head to San Francisco and meet with some of the folks from legal documents sharing service JD Supra. They hinted that some new developments were just around the corner, and I'm pleased to announce that they have now released a Facebook application. So cool!

I haven't had a chance to try it out myself yet, but Steve Matthews has done a write-up with screen shots over at his Law Firm Web Strategy blog. I can't wait to try it out--it gives me the opportunity to post a feed of the documents I have loaded in JD Supra (screen shot of Steve's feed):

as well as have my JD Supra profile reposted (again I have snagged Steve's):

I can't wait to try it out over the weekend! If you are in a law firm, are a lawyer, or work with a law-related organization, I encourage you to have a look at JD Supra. It is a way to share your expertise with others and raise your profile at the same time in a very Web 2.0 way.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

This Thursday I will be facilitating a roundtable discussion at the next Toronto Girl Geek Dinners. I have been attending meetings of this group for about a year, and have found them to be very collegial. It is a fantastic group of interesting women from a range of industries. The group also encourages younger members by having a number of students sponsored for the evening.

Usually we have a speaker, but the group has gotten so comfortable with one another that we thought an opportunity for us to talk with one another would be a nice change of pace. Inspiration for the discussion:

The ability to do sustained innovation is the one competitive edge left. Innovation is the driver of performance, growth and stock market valuation." - Bruce Nussbaum, 10 Worst Innovation Mistakes in A Recession (Business Week)

The 9th Toronto Girl Geek Dinner, sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, will feature a discussion about how we, as leaders in our respective areas of technology, can continue to innovate during tough economic times.

Some of the topics we will cover include taking smart risks, using a downturn as a catalyst for innovation, finding a solid strategy, and the opportunities for people inside organizations and for entrepreneurs.

To wrap up our Toronto Girl Geek Dinners for 2008, PricewaterhouseCoopers has graciously agreed to pick up the tab for everyone's dinner. We all thank them for their generosity are thrilled to have them on-board and participating in our event!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

This week I learned about three new business books that have just been released that you should know about. I have one in my hot little hands, and the others two I have ordered from my favourite business bookstore, Books for Business.

This book is a follow-up to his previous book Growing Up Digital. The premise is that those currently between the ages of 11 and 30 (the "Net Generation") have new ways of thinking and interacting. This is going to have an impact on society, so it is in the interest of all of us to understand this change. After all, this age group was the differentiating factor in getting Obama elected U.S. president last night. Tapscott and his team interviewed almost 10,000 people in putting this book together. I was fortunate to be able to purchase a copy and have him sign it, so have started working my way through it already. For more information, see the website grownupdigital.com.

Tuesday night I attended a special Toronto Third Tuesday dinner for corporate communications celeb Shel Holtz. He was in town to speak at a conference, and a group of us were privileged to have him tell us about the work he did on his new book Tactical Transparency that he wrote with John C. Havens. He explained that companies are reluctant to embrace transparency because they believe this means giving away their business secrets. On the contrary, he explained there are areas that do need to stay confidential such as client information, business intelligence, personal information and health information, and that keeping these confidential is very different than acting in a transparent way.

Finally, during his talk Shel also mentioned another book coming out from his publisher Jossey-Bass that sounds of interest, The Credible Company: Communicating with a Skeptical Workforce by Roger D'Aprix. Essentially it looks to be about internal communication during difficult times of change. On the one hand I wonder if there are ever any times of change that are not difficult, but on the other hand acknowledge that we are coming into particularly difficult times. A book like this that can help show management the way to working with staff to ease the stress at a time when morale may be low is particularly well-timed.

About Me

I am the principal consultant at Crosby Group Consulting specializing in knowledge management, information management and social media primarily for the legal and information industries. I teach continuing education courses on social media at the iSchool Institute, University of Toronto. I also write, blog and speak. My 2010 book Effective Blogging for Libraries is part of the award-winning Tech Set series from Neal-Schuman Publishing.

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